Statement against recent racist attacks in Northern Ireland

The recent racist attacks in Northern Ireland against migrant workers are an indictment of the status-quo which thrives on blaming minorities for the problems inherent in capitalism. It is the political class and sections of the tabloid press who constantly provide the ammunition for racist attacks.

Belfast anti-racist protest

The recent racist attacks in Northern Ireland against migrant workers are an indictment of the status-quo which thrives on blaming minorities for the problems inherent in capitalism. It is the political class and sections of the tabloid press who constantly provide the ammunition for racist attacks.

Governments utilise racist sediment deliberately to divert our anger away from the real causes of their problems. Problems such as poverty, housing shortages, and unemployment have all been blamed on immigrants - rather than those really responsible such as landlords, property developers-capitalism.

Anarchists believe in equality between all people regardless of where their ancestors may be from, what colour their skin is, or where they were born. We all have an immigrant history in one way or the other. We want a world with no borders, where people are free to travel the world and settle where they wish – this is not a freedom that should be only be available to the rich.

Today Fortress Europe, with its border controls, armed guards and detention camps is a reality. This has brutal consequences for those seeking escape from persecution – often fleeing western sponsored dictatorships and imperialist wars.

Racial profiling is carried out by the police on public transport and border controls. Migrant workers are often questioned, harassed, detained and barred entry to ‘Ireland’ from the north on the basis of skin colour. Shamefully, ‘asylum-seekers’ here are interned in Maghaberry. It is the Labour Government which deports thousands of immigrants every year for the ‘crime’ of searching for a better life. It is the Labour Government which is trying to high-jack the clothes of the far-right by referring to ‘British jobs for British Workers’.

The real ‘spongers’ who undercut our wages are not immigrants but the tiny boss class who live off our labour. Immigrants bring a wealth of experience, culture and make a contribution to society and the ‘economy’, often suffering harsher conditions and exploitation than ‘native’ working class people. Often at the hands of criminal gangs, apart from our own Government. We must also remember that millions of working class people have migrated from Ireland – north and south – in search of a better life, fleeing inequality, injustice and poverty, over the past couple of hundred years.

In confronting racism and sectarianism we need to build class unity based on common class interests, fighting for a better standard and quality of life for all. These twin evils must be tackled where we live and work, rather than appealing to our politicians or calling for tougher legislation, which is a distraction from the root cause of the problem. We need to expose and attack the institutions which are legitimising racism in our society; we need to stand up against racist bullies and fascists carrying out attacks on migrant workers. Central to this is the need to physically and ideologically confront fascism wherever it raises its ugly head and the building of opposition to the system of wage slavery and exploitation which promotes racist scapegoating and the criminalisation of immigration.

Racism is motivated and perpetuated by greed, promoted by those in power. If festers in ignorance and misplaced fear. Our alternative is social equality and freedom for all.

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In the last fifteen to twenty years, two new phenomena have finally reached Ireland –Immigration and alongside it - Racism. This is not to say that we Irish never had our prejudices before the ‘blacks’ arrived, back then we were quite happy directing our bigotry and ignorance towards travellers, gays, Jews and Protestants.

There is a growing crisis in Ireland with the hospitalisation of around 8 of the 41 Afghan Hunger strikers who occupied St Patricks Cathedral on Sunday last. WSM members have been taking part in solidarity vigils and other support work for the 41 Afghan hunger strikers . We support their demand to be allowed to stay in Ireland and we will be taking part in demonstrations and other events over the new few days in support of that demand.

The exploitation of migrant workers who are often paid illegally low wages has hit the Irish news many times in recent months. Labour party leader Pat Rabbitte reacted to this explotation by suggesting further controls should be place on migrant workers!

Two people were arrested in Dublin on Tuesday as Residents against Racism activists attempted to block the deportation of 39 people (including fourteen children, 5 of whom were born in Ireland) to Lagos. Nigeria. This account is from Emma a WSM member and RAR activist who was arrested.

In the early hours of May 19th Michael Alabi was deported by the Irish State. Michael was resident of a hostel in Lower Gardiner street and was part of a group of Nigerian men who decided to go on hunger strike to protest against the department of Justice's draconian immigration policies.

The Dublin City North Branch of the INTO has passed a motion endorsing the call by outgoing union president, Austin Corcoran, that all schools become safe places for all children -to be given the status of embassies. It is hoped that more branches within the union will take up this issue and that by next year's annual congress a campaign will be launched in the union to make this a reality

The Irish government is currently trying to deport women and children under the threat of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which frequently results in death. Asylum in Ireland can be sought on grounds of religious or political persecution. However the government refuse to acknowlege FGM as a political act and therefore women and children cannot apply for asylum on the basis they have suffered or will suffer FGM if deported.

2016 is fast approaching and we will be subjected to endless documentaries about that start of our bloody history as a nation. It will also be a time for analysis of how far we’ve come since the proclamation of this Republic.

In the proclamation there are lines which are aspirational, but grounded in the reality of experience of the rebels.
“The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past.”

Last weekend, ten people died in a fire at a halting site in South Dublin. Thomas Connors, Sylvia Connors, Willie Lynch, Tara Gilbert, and Jimmy Lynch and five children lost lives. Their deaths are a tragedy, and we mourn their loss. But we are also angry. Because we know the loss of their lives was not the outcome of chance or blind fate. Our society, its laws and its institutions are designed to marginalise, to penalise and to discriminate against Travellers (traditionally itinerant ethnic group) . So long as we accept these forms of oppression and exploitation, tragedy will follow tragedy.

The Refugees Welcome rally saw a good crowd assembled at the Spire in Dublin. The rally was a response where people wanted to express their solidarity with the refugees who are attempting to escape war and death.

Thanks to the work of a few volunteers we had some banners to bring to the Refugees are Welcome rally and march at the Spire on Saturday the 12th of September. I was on my bike into the Barricade Inn to pick up the banners. The banners were important to link up certain struggles. One linked the appalling reaction to the social housing crisis by this government with their slow reaction to the humanitarian crisis on the edges of fortress Europe, which simply stated Homes for All, Refuge for All, and another which read No Borders No Nations. There was a good crowd assembled there when we arrived at the Spire and it grew steadily as Memet Uludag spoke frequently, often, and introduced each of the speakers. The rally was a response where people wanted to express their solidarity with the refugees who are attempting to escape war and death.

Over the last couple of days we have witnessed massive media hysteria about the case of Maria, a young girl supposedly abducted by a Roma couple in Greece. DNA tests and Lombroso-style racial profiling have come into action in a case that has stirred the irrational anxiety that feeds racism and bigotry. Beyond the fact that child abduction is a serious issue, the "whiteness" and "blondeness" of the alleged victim have been emphasised together with the "Roma" condition of the alleged culprits. Let us remember that this is taking place in Greece, a country where blatant racism (as expressed by Golden Dawn) is on the rise, so there are good reasons to be cautious about this whole case.